ARMANDO IANUCCI

Cheltenham? That’s all blue rinses and teacakes, isn’t it?
Absolutely not. My experience has been of bright, sparky, book-loving members of the public, eager to take part in meaty discussions.

Doesn’t literature just comment on change rather than effect it?
Yes, and no. And maybe. And maybe not. Discuss.

Which events did you schedule?
Half a dozen over the first three days, discussing what is real and what is made up in the media and public life. Does drama get to the heart of politics more accurately than a politician’s “official” view of events? How much of what we read and see in the media is distorted or influenced by the people in the public eye that media reports are intended to be about?

Which event are you most looking forward to?
I can’t wait to get started on the first one, “Why Are We So Angry?”, with Charlie Brooker, since it’s my guess that the audience will have a lot to be angry about.

Who would you be most frightened of being interviewed by?
Alive or dead? George Orwell. Not least because he would be dead.

If you appeared at a storytelling event, what would you tell?
One of H. G. Wells’s short stories.

Which book and which writer has effected the most change in you?
Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens is my favourite book by my favourite writer. It is writing that always feels contemporary and shocking, especially this week – it climaxes with a run on a bank, and the downfall of many people.

Armando Iannucci appears at The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival on October 5, 6 and 7.
Call 01242 227979
www.cheltenhamfestivals.com

A. C. GRAYLING

Cheltenham? That’s all blue rinses and teacakes, isn’t it?
No. It is intelligent, interested people who read, ask good questions, enjoy debate and have an alert, appreciative and well-informed attitude to the world.

Doesn’t literature just comment on change rather than effect it?
It does both. Ideas are the wheels of history and human experience is what pedals them round. Literature explores the possibilities of the human condition. Responsive readers always find echoes of truth in it – and truth changes things.

Which events did you schedule?
The six conversations on the arts and literature with the novelist Howard Jacobson, the former director of the National Gallery, Charles Saumarez Smith, the playwright Christopher Hampton, the composer Michael Berkeley, the dancer Carlos Acosta and the biographer Claire Tomalin.

Change is the theme this year. What does it mean to you? Understood positively, change suggests the possibility of new growth, of new horizons, or hope. Understood negatively, it prompts the desire to save what is good and valuable so that others in future can enjoy it and profit from it too.

Who would you most like to meet at Cheltenham?
My six guests and the many friends I’ve made at previous festivals, in the Green Room and the audiences.

If you appeared at a storytelling event, what would you tell?
The story of the miraculous mandarin, who would not die until his desires had been fulfilled.

A. C. Grayling appears at The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival on October 11, 12, 13 and 14.
Call 01242 227979
www.cheltenhamfestivals.com

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